Love Bites
by Lupinfangirl
Summary: My first attempt at a romance fic, so please be patient. Tonks is in love with Bill, but soon learns that he doesn't feel the same way about her. Can Remus help her overcome her love? NTRL, NTBW, BWFD.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello, all! This is my first attempt at a Remus/Tonks romance fic. I'm sorry if this chapter's boring, but hopefully, it'll get better later on. If you hate this story, please leave me some constructive criticism and tell me what's wrong with it. But be gentle about it and don't leave me any of those brainless reviews that go "u suck n ur story sux 2 u must die!" or something like that. If you leave a review like that, I'll just disregard it and consider you a rude jerk.

Lupy

Chapter 1- 

Nymphadora Tonks was excited. She was so happy to learn from Kingsley Shacklebolt that she can actually do something about the return of Voldemort! She had always believed Harry Potter's side of the story for some reason, instead of the _Daily Prophet_, which only talked about Harry Potter losing his marbles, along with Albus Dumbledore.

That morning, Tonks was sitting in her cubicle, reading the _Daily Prophet_. There have been about five articles in it that were talking about Harry as if he was some kind of a joke, and Tonks was so sick of it that she exclaimed to no one in particular: "Bloody hell! That _Daily Prophet_ should really wake up and smell the coffee! How could they just close their eyes to the return of You-Know-Who like that? They'll probably be in denial until You-Know-Who will murder them in their sleep! I just wish I could—"

"Tonks?" a voice suddenly interrupted her angry tirade. Tonks immediately stopped talking and blushed deeply. She looked up and saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, a fellow Auror, standing outside her cubicle. Tonks regretted her loss of control, even though she had a sort of a hunch that he didn't like the _Daily Prophet _much. Still, one could never be completely sure these days.

"Wotcher, Kingsley," Tonks grinned, trying to act normal, "What's up?"

"I brought you some paperwork from Scrimgeour," Kingsley said in his deep, calming voice. Tonks really liked his voice; listening to him almost made her worries melt away magically. He handed her a particularly thick folder, full of papers.

Tonks groaned. "Do I have to finish it all today?" she asked.

"Not today, but Scrimgeour would like to have it done by the end of the week."

"Ugh. I'm so sick of doing paperwork all day!" Tonks cried out in frustration. "Sorry, I-I'm not in the best of moods today," she explained apologetically.

"No problem," Kingsley smiled, "I heard your little, er, diatribe just now."

"I'd be surprised if the whole Ministry wouldn't have heard it," Tonks laughed.

Kingsley chucked. "Well, sometimes lack of self-control can be a good thing."

"What do you mean?"

Kingsley stepped into Tonks' cubicle, looking solemn. "Listen, Tonks," he lowered his voice, "Did you really mean all that stuff that you said? I mean, do you really believe You-Know-Who is back?"

"Of course I do," Tonks whispered, "I've believed it ever since Harry Potter first said it. I-I've always had a bit of a soft spot for the poor kid."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"You are?" Tonks asked in surprise.

Kingsley nodded. "Would you like to do something to help Dumbledore fight against You-Know-Who?"

"Of course I would! That's why I became an Auror: to face danger, not to do paperwork all day!" Tonks laughed, gesturing to the folder overflowing with papers.

"Great," Kingsley grinned, "I'll let Dumbledore know, then. Can you meet me in the lobby at five o'clock tonight?"

"Sure, Kingsley."

"Remember, this is a secret. Nobody must know about it- well, nobody who's not involved, that is."

"Sure," said Tonks with a small smile, "My lips are sealed, Kingsley."

"Good. I'll meet you at five sharp in the main lobby." Kingsley gave her a clap on the shoulder and left.

That whole day passed by slower than ever. Tonks could not concentrate; she kept looking at the clock, as if that would make time go by faster. Every minute seemed to last a year, every hour a lifetime. Finally, at exactly 4:55 PM, Tonks grabbed her things and mustered all her willpower not to bolt out the door and into the elevator.

When Tonks got to the lobby, Kingsley was not there yet. Her palms sweating, her knees buckling, and her heart pounding like a bongo, she looked at her watch. 4:58 PM. "Merlin, when is he going to be here?" she thought nervously, pacing back and forth.

"Tonks, are you all right?" Tonks turned to see who was talking to her and came face to face with Amelia Bones.

"I'm fine, Madam Bones," she said, trying to not make her voice shake so much, "Just a little stressed out."

Amelia Bones nodded and turned to leave. "All right. I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Have a good night," Tonks called after her. She looked at her watch again. 4:59 and Kingsley was still not there. She watched the second hand go around and at exactly 5:00, she looked up and there was Kingsley, coming out of the elevator and walking towards her. "He's just like the Count of Monte Cristo," thought Tonks, remembering the punctual count from the Muggle novel she read recently.

"Good evening, Tonks," said Kingsley, giving her a warm smile.

"Wotcher," said Tonks, grinning back at him, "This has been the longest day of my life so far."

"Well, you've made it. Come on, let's go."

They walked in silence for a little while, Tonks' mind bursting with questions which she really hoped would soon be answered. Finally, Kingsley stopped in the middle of some completely deserted street and turned to face Tonks.

"All right, Tonks," he said, "What I'm about to tell you will come as a shock, but don't scream or run away or anything, okay?"

"Uh, all right, Kingsley," Tonks said apprehensively, "What could be so bad that I'd scream or run away?"

"Tonks," Kingsley said solemnly, lowering his voice, "Sirius Black is innocent."

"Are you kidding!" Tonks exclaimed, "Oh, sorry," she added, lowering her voice as well, "I said I wouldn't scream."

"Calm down and let me tell you everything," Kingsley said urgently, putting a hand on her shoulder. Tonks just stared at him in disbelief, but didn't say anything. Kingsley went on, telling her about how Lily and James Potter switched Secret Keepers and how the real traitor was not Sirius Black but Peter Pettigrew. How Peter was the one who killed the thirteen Muggles and then framed Sirius for it by turning into a rat and running away, faking his own death by cutting off his finger. How Sirius spent twelve years in Azkaban as an innocent man and then escaped as an Animagus dog.

"A few weeks ago, Harry Potter saw You-Know-Who come back. Cornelius Fudge and the Ministry refused to believe him, but Dumbledore took Harry's word for it and wasn't afraid to face the truth. So, Dumbledore recruited those wizards and witches who wanted to fight against You-Know-Who into the Order of the Phoenix. That's the name of the society that fought against him during the first war. And today I informed Dumbledore that you'll be coming to tonight's meeting, so that's where we'll be going right now," Kingsley finished.

Tonks didn't know what to say. For the first time in her talkative life, she was speechless. Sirius was innocent! Her mother's cousin who had always come to visit and never forgot to bring something for Tonks; who entertained Tonks with stories about Hogwarts until it was way past her bedtime; who always found time to listen to whatever Tonks wanted to tell him, no matter how busy he was- he was innocent! She felt a wonderful sense of relief spread over her together with the excitement that she would soon see Sirius again and talk to him.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" she exclaimed, "Let's go! I can't wait to see Sirius again!"

Kingsley laughed. "You knew him?" he asked in surprise.

"He was my mother's cousin," Tonks explained, "I've always thought of him as a cool uncle and was crushed when I found out he went to Azkaban. But I still never lost hope that he was innocent because him being a murderer just seemed so absurd, you know?"

"I see," Kingsley nodded, "All right, let's go. It's only a few blocks from here."

They set off briskly and in a matter of minutes, they stood in the middle of a Muggle street. There were two houses in front of them, numbers eleven and thirteen.

Kingsley handed Tonks a scrap of parchment. "Read this quickly and memorize it," he said.

Tonks looked down at the piece of parchment and read the words that were written in a slender, narrow handwriting:

The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

A/N: Well, this is it, folks. The first chapter. Review please and if you have any suggestions on writing style or the amount of detail I'm using, feel free to tell me. And also tell me if you have a better title for this story.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two- The Order of the Phoenix 

As soon as Tonks read the piece of parchment, it erupted into flames. She looked up in surprise: she had been sure that there was no Number twelve, only numbers eleven and thirteen.

"Kingsley," she began, "I think this is a mistake. There is so Number- " Tonks didn't get to finish her sentence because at that exact moment, she suddenly saw a house materialize in between numbers eleven and thirteen. She gasped in surprise and quickly looked around to see if any of the Muggles had noticed, but they just kept on walking as if nothing happened.

Kingsley saw her surprise and explained quietly, "The house is only visible to those who read that piece of parchment. One of Dumbledore's security measures."

"Smart man, that Dumbledore," said Tonks with a small smile.

Kingsley nodded. "Well, shall we go in?"

"Oh, yes, of course."

They walked up to the door, on which there was a brass knocker in the shape of a snake. Kingsley picked it up and knocked three times.

The door opened and there stood a short and plump woman with bright red hair and freckles. She had a kind face and a very friendly smile.

"Oh, hello, Kingsley!" she greeted him warmly.

"Good evening, Molly," Kingsley replied, "This is Nymphadora Tonks, our newest member. Tonks, this is Molly Weasley."

"Nice to meet you, Nymphadora," said Molly, shaking her hand.

"You, too," Tonks replied, "Call me Tonks, please."

"All right, come in. And keep your voice down in the hall; there's a noisy portrait there."

Tonks and Kingsley nodded and came in quietly.

"Wait a minute," Tonks said to Molly, "Aren't you Bill's and Charlie's mother?"

"Yes, I am," said Molly, smiling, "Did you go to school with them?"

"Yeah, Charlie was in my year and sometimes I hung out with him and Bill. Bill has always been so nice to me," said Tonks reminiscently, feeling her face grow warm. The truth was, she's always had a bit of a crush on Bill. He was handsome, smart, and very popular, but he never acted stuck up or anything. Tonks was so distracted by her thoughts about Bill that she didn't see the umbrella stand shaped like a troll's leg until she had tripped over it and was lying flat on her back. The umbrella stand toppled to the floor with a reverberating CRASH.

Suddenly, there was a horrible, screeching woman's voice yelling, "FILTHY SHAPE-SHIFTER! DAUGHTER OF A BLOOD TRAITOR! HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK, YOU FOUL-"

As Kingsley helped Tonks to her feet, she saw that the voice was coming from a portrait of an extremely mean-looking old woman that was hanging on the wall. Her hair was all messed up and her eyes were rolling in their sockets; she looked as though she was having an epileptic fit. This must have been the noisy portrait Molly was talking about.

Tonks saw two men running towards the portrait and struggling to stop the old woman's screams by closing the curtain over it. Finally, after much effort, they managed to close the curtain and shut the woman up. They both turned to face Tonks and she was able to get a close look at them. One of them was very tall and had long black hair, gray eyes, and a smile that looked somewhat mischievous. He was very handsome, even though he looked thin and worn out. The other man was also tall, but not as tall as the first one. He also looked older, probably because his light brown hair was streaked with gray and his face was lined. He looked very tired, as though he didn't get enough sleep, and his robes very patched in various places and frayed at the edges.

The dark-haired man said, "Well, let's go into the living room. We can talk there without hearing my mother's dulcet tones." He threw back his head and let out a bark-like laugh, as they all followed him into the living room, which was filled with a lot of people.

"His mother?"Tonks thought in surprise, "Who is this man?" Suddenly, it hit her like a bolt of lightning and all the pieces snapped into place: this house that she used to visit with her mother, the old lady's appearance and shrill voice, that bark-like laugh…Tonks couldn't believe how clueless she had been.

"Sirius?" she said in disbelief, "Is that you?"

The dark-haired man turned around and looked hard at her. "No," he said in amazement, "It can't be…Oh, Merlin, you're Nymphadora!" At that, he broke into a wide grin, his trademark grin that Tonks remembered from her childhood. He looked much older and definitely much more grim-looking than she remembered, but all in all, he still looked like the same Sirius.

Sirius put his arms around Tonks, wrapping her up in a tight embrace. "Oh, Merlin, it's been so long!" he exclaimed joyfully, "If it weren't for that pink hair, I would never have recognized you. How have you been, Nymph?" he asked, letting go of her, but continuing to look at her intently.

"I'm all right, Sirius. And you've probably forgotten that I like to be called Tonks. But anyway, I hardly recognized _you_, Sirius; you look so different. And I haven't been here in such a long time that I even forgot what your house looks like."

"Consider yourself lucky then," said Sirius, laughing bitterly, the grin gone from his face, "I wish I could also forget what it looks like. But, no, I just have to be stuck in here now when I thought I left this place for good when I was sixteen.

Tonks suddenly appreciated how tough Sirius' life has been so far: being born into a rubbish family, in which only purebloods were considered human beings; spending twelve years in Azkaban; and now being forced to stay in the house that he has hated all his life. She wished she could cheer Sirius up and make him as happy as he used to be.

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you," Sirius said, bringing Tonks out of her reverie and turning to the older man, "This is Remus Lupin, one of my best friends, "Remus, this is Tonks, Andromeda's daughter."

"Nice to meet you," said Remus, holding out his hand and shaking Tonks'. His hand was very rough: the fingers were callused and upon closer inspection, Tonks noticed that the back of his hand had a number of cuts and scars that looked pretty deep. She wondered where he could have gotten them.

"It's a pleasure, Mr. Lupin," said Tonks, thinking that it would be more polite to call the older gentleman by his last name. 

"Please call me Remus," he said with a smile. Tonks thought he looked younger and less tired when he smiled. "If you call me Mr. Lupin, I feel…old."

"But you're not exactly young, are you?" Tonks said and then immediately wished she had kept her mouth shut. "What kind of moron am I?" she thought, feeling mortified. Sirius coughed and Tonks was sure he was covering up a snicker because a second later he suddenly excused himself to go feed his hippogriff, Buckbeak. 

Tonks cleared her throat and although she was looking down at the floor, she could feel Remus watching her. With an enormous effort, she forced herself to look into his eyes. To her surprise, Remus didn't look angry and he wasn't even laughing at her. His gaze was sympathetic and warm, but Tonks still knew she ought to apologize.

"Remus, please forgive me," she said quietly, "I'm such an idiot, I always manage to find the worst way to put my foot in my mouth."

"Don't worry about it," Remus said kindly, giving her a warm smile, "You just made a mistake, and that can happen to anyone."

"Hey, Remus, can you come here a minute?" someone called from behind them. Tonks turned around and saw that the voice belonged to a young woman with black hair and very rosy cheeks.

Remus nodded to the woman and was about to leave, but then he turned back to Tonks. "Oh, by the way," he said, "You were right: I _am_ older than Sirius, by a couple of months." He grinned at Tonks and she grinned back, her embarrassment melting away. "He's such a gentleman," she thought, as Remus walked away, "Anyone else would have yelled at me or said something rude back."

"Hey, Tonks!" she heard a man's voice behind her. She turned around and suddenly found herself grinning like a loon. It was Bill, wearing a tight black T-shirt that accented his arm muscles nicely, and looking more handsome than she ever remembered him looking. He put his arms around Tonks and squeezed her so hard that she almost lost her breath.

"Bill!" she exclaimed when he let go of her, "It's been ages since we last spoke! How are you?"

"I'm great. I've been working at Gringott's since I left Hogwarts. What have you been doing?"

"I'm an Auror," said Tonks, hoping to impress Bill, "I work at the Ministry of Magic."

"I should have known. With your brains and ambition, would you have settled for anything less?" Tonks blushed at the compliment and her heart began pounding like mad. "I heard that nobody has become an Auror in the past three years," Bill added, giving Tonks a grin that melted her heart.

"Kingsley just told me about the Order today," said Tonks, trying to keep normal conversation going, so that Bill wouldn't think she was fishing for compliments, "I'm so glad you're in it, Bill."

"I'm glad you are, too. Hopefully, we can get to know each other better."

Tonks and Bill chatted a bit more. Then, Dumbledore came and the Order meeting began. Throughout the meeting, Tonks tried her best to pay attention, but she kept on thinking about how glad she was to have joined the Order. The people were all very pleasant (with the obvious exception of Severus Snape); she would be doing her bit in helping to fight against You-Know-Who; and best of all, there was _Bill_. And this time, she would try to get Bill interested in her romantically and see her as a cool, sophisticated person instead of a clumsy child, like she was at Hogwarts.

A/N: Well, that's Chapter Two for you, guys. Wait, don't leave yet! Regardless of whether you like this story or hate it, please leave a review. Once again, all reviews are appreciated, except for brainless flames that don't even say what's wrong with the story. And if you have any suggestions for chapter titles, please tell me because I can't think of any. 

Lupy


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three 

Throughout the next week or so, Tonks tried to find a moment alone with Bill, but that was pretty much impossible. He was hardly ever at headquarters and it seemed like he spent all his time at Gringott's or on guard duty. However, Tonks did get to see a lot of the inhabitants of the house, including the Weasley children. Molly and her husband, Arthur, had five children besides for Bill and Charlie: Fred and George, twins and mischief-makers, who had an awesome sense of humor; Ron, a tall boy, who always seemed to be the target of the twins' jokes; Ginny, the youngest sibling and the only girl; and Percy, who was never mentioned because he had a fight with Arthur and didn't live with the family anymore. Tonks wasn't sure what the fight had been about, but she didn't feel comfortable enough to ask because she didn't want to pry into things that were none of her business. Tonks got on very well with Ginny and also with Harry's and Ron's best friend, Hermione Granger, who was staying in the house as well. The girls clearly admired her for being an Auror and loved her Metamorphmagus abilities because their watching Tonks change her hair or her nose became a new hobby for them.

Tonks also saw a lot of Sirius, but he wasn't much fun to be around anymore as he spent a great deal of his time locked up in Buckbeak's room, sulking. Remus Lupin was also staying in the house, so Tonks got to know him. After work, she often visited 12 Grimmauld Place, which was more appealing than her empty flat, and ended up talking to Remus. He was a very interesting guy- smart and with a subtle sense of humor. Although he was about twelve or thirteen years older than her, Tonks had never felt the age difference. Remus always treated her as an equal, he never condescended or patronized, and he was very polite with her. Tonks had never met anyone like him.

One day, Tonks got off work early and decided to drop by 12 Grimmauld Place because she didn't feel like spending the rest of the day alone in her flat. As she gathered her things after work and made to leave, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, Tonks let out a small gasp of surprise as she saw Bill Weasley standing next to her and grinning at her.

"Hey, Tonks," he said.

"Wotcher," Tonks replied, "I'm, uh, just about to leave. I got off early today."

"Cool," said Bill, "Where are you going? To your flat?"

"No, to headquarters," Tonks said, promptly knocking over a folder that was lying on her desk. All the contents of the folder spilled and Tonks groaned loudly. She knelt down to pick it up, but Bill got there first and quickly picked up everything.

"Thank you," said Tonks, as he placed the folder back on her desk, "I'm always such a klutz." She felt her face grow hot, as it always did when she made a fool out of herself in front of Bill-which happened surprisingly often.

"No problem," said Bill with a kind smile.

As they set off toward the elevators, Tonks turned to Bill and said, "So, what have you been up to lately, Bill? I haven't seen you in a while."

"Oh, you know, I had lots of work to do at the bank. And I've been doing guard duty, too," he added in a low voice. "As a matter of fact, I have a shift right now."

"You look very tired," Tonks commented, noticing for the first time the dark shadows under his eyes, "Get some sleep tonight, okay?"

"All right, Mum," Bill laughed.

They got out of the elevator and Tonks said, "Well, I'll see you later, Bill" and began walking toward the exit, but Bill caught her arm.

"Tonks, wait a minute," he said, "I wanted to ask you something."

"What is it?" asked Tonks, trying to sound casual. This wasn't easy to do because her arm was tingling at the place where Bill touched her and her heart almost leaping out of her chest.

"Well, tomorrow I have a day off, so I was wondering if you and I can meet up after you finish work, then maybe we can go eat dinner somewhere. I mean, I'll understand it if you're busy or anything, but I just thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up."

Tonks mustered up all of her willpower not to jump up and shout at the top of her lungs. Instead, she looked Bill in the eye and said, as calmly as she could, "Sure, I'd love to! That sounds great. Thanks, Bill!"

"Great," said Bill, "What time do you end work tomorrow?"

"Five o'clock, as usual."

"All right, I'll meet you right outside the building at five. See you, Tonks," he said, flashing Tonks a grin that almost made her faint.

"Bye, Bill." Tonks waited until Bill was out of sight before breaking into a huge grin. She wanted to squeal and jump up and down like a crazy schoolgirl, but the presence of other people in the lobby of the Ministry stopped her.

Tonks decided to walk to Grimmauld Place instead of Apparating: it was such a nice, sunny day. The whole way there, she couldn't feel the ground beneath her feet. She saw and heard nobody; the only thing she heard was a voice inside her head screaming over and over, "Bill asked me out! The man of my dreams asked me out! I don't even have to try to get Bill to love me; maybe he loves me already!"

Before she knew it, Tonks was already there, running into the house, and tripping over the dreaded umbrella stand that she still hasn't learned to avoid. Mrs. Black's screams followed, as usual, but this time, they did not annoy Tonks in the slightest. She was sitting on the floor in a vague stupor, thinking about Bill, and not even bothering to get up. Only a few moments later, she was able to register the fact that Mrs. Black was no longer yelling. Then Tonks saw somebody's hand waving in front of her face. Looking up, she saw that the hand belonged to Remus.

"Hello? Nymphadora? Earth to Nymphadora!" Remus was saying.

"Oh, sorry, Remus. I didn't notice you," said Tonks apologetically, getting up from the floor and brushing herself off. "So, what's up?"

"I should ask you that," Remus replied with an impish grin, as they went into the kitchen, "You seem like you're in a world of your own today. And you didn't even notice that I called you Nymphadora."

"Oh," said Tonks, and suddenly the reason for her happiness burst into her mind once again. She found herself being forced to suppress a huge grin. "Well, I, um…I'm having a great day so far." At that, she couldn't help but grin and turn crimson with excitement.

"I can see that," Remus said with a slight chuckle, "You're glowing as if you've swallowed the sun. Would you like to tell me about what made your day so great or is that a big secret?"

"Um, it's sort of a secret, but if I don't tell anyone, then I feel I'm going to explode."

"Tell me, then, because I don't think Kreacher will like the sight of you exploding in this kitchen. He just mopped the floor today." Remus and Tonks looked at each other and laughed.

"All right, I'll tell you," said Tonks. After all, Remus was her friend, and as far as she could see, he could be trusted. She sat down at the table and knocked over one of the chairs next to her. Remus picked it up and then walked over to the stove.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" he asked.

"Sure, that would be great," said Tonks, "Thanks, Remus."

Remus tapped the teakettle with his wand and a blast of smoke came out of it. Then he put teabags into two cups, poured hot water into them, and handed one to Tonks. He sat across from Tonks at the table and said, "All right, Nymphadora, out with it. What's the big deal?"

Tonks took a small sip of tea. "It's Bill," she said, once again beginning to grin like a loon, "He asked me out today! On a date!"

She looked up at Remus and did a double take. There was something in his eyes that Tonks couldn't quite identify, but it looked to her like disappointment. She looked at him a second time, but this time the look of disappointment was gone and Remus' face was back to normal. Oh, well. Maybe she had imagined it.

"Oh, I see," Remus said, grinning broadly at her, "You're quite fond of Bill, aren't you?"

"Well…yes," Tonks admitted hesitantly, a blush creeping up her cheeks, "I've had a crush on him since Hogwarts. You see, I was in the same year as Charlie Weasley, so I sometimes hung out with him and Bill. And, er, Bill always gave me a lot of attention, which made me feel special because he was so popular and I wasn't. He helped me with homework whenever I needed help and we've become friends over the years."

"Have you seen each other since Hogwarts?" Remus asked.

"Oh, no, we sort of stopped keeping in contact after Bill graduated. He was too busy, I suppose. And- and now he asks me to have dinner with him tomorrow night! Remus, do you think he might be in love with me?"

"I don't know," Remus said slowly, looking into Tonks' eyes that were shining with excitement, "He could be. He could easily be in love with you. Tonks, I don't want to give you false hopes, but you're not exactly short on good points."

"Thank you, Remus," said Tonks, blushing at his compliment, "And thanks for, well, listening to me. It felt great to let out this secret."

"No problem. I should thank _you _for trusting me enough to tell me this secret of yours. Now, I have to go, Dumbledore asked me to speak to him about something."

"Oh, and Remus?" Tonks called as he got up from the table.

"Yes?"

"You won't tell-"

"Don't worry," said Remus, giving her a warm smile, "My lips are sealed, I swear. Now, enjoy your dinner tomorrow night and tell me later how it went."

"Oh, I will, of course. Bye, Remus."

"See you, Tonks," Remus said, and left the kitchen.

"Remus is a great friend," Tonks thought, sitting at the kitchen table and finishing her tea. "And Bill is just heavenly! I can hardly wait until tomorrow night!"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Tonks stood outside the Ministry building, waiting for Bill to come meet her, excitement making her giddy and lightheaded. She had tried to look especially nice, wearing her best pair of jeans, a new vintage Weird Sisters T-shirt, and she even risked a pair of high-heeled boots. Her hair was in short blonde spikes; she remembered how in Hogwarts Bill dated a gorgeous girl named Emily White, who had exactly that type of hairstyle. Tonks really hoped that Bill would like her look.

After about five minutes, she saw him. Bill looked handsome as always, in jeans and a tight blue T-shirt. He spotted Tonks and gave her a huge smile, then stepped forward and hugged her.

"Tonks! How are you?"

"Wotcher, Bill! So good to see you," Tonks replied, savoring the embrace. Bill's arms were tight around her, and he smelled so nice—like cologne, mingled with the crisp autumn air.

"You look great," Bill said, releasing her. "Love the T-shirt!"

Tonks' heart gave an excited leap. "You do? Thanks! I just bought it at a Weird Sisters concert."

"I love the Weird Sisters!" Bill exclaimed. "Maybe we should go to a concert one day."

"That would be awesome!" said Tonks, trying to keep her voice steady and her hands from shaking with pleasure.

"Yeah…so, you ready to go?" asked Bill.

"Sure," Tonks replied. "Where do you want to eat?"

"There's this Muggle restaurant I know, with the best Thai food. But it's a bit far, so we'll have to Apparate."

When Tonks nodded her assent, Bill took her arm and before she knew it, they were standing in front of a cozy place that was shaped like a Tiki house. They walked in and the waiter seated them and handed them menus. Tonks opened her mouth to tell Bill what a nice place this was, but before she could say anything, she heard a woman's melodious voice, speaking with a French accent:

"Bill! Zair you are, sweetheart!"

Tonks' eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open in shock. Sweetheart? She looked closely at the newcomer, and did a double take. The woman was young—she seemed no older than nineteen or twenty—and absolutely gorgeous. She had long light-blonde hair up to her waist, big blue eyes, and a stunning smile. Her sky-blue blouse fit her tall, thin frame perfectly, and she wore heels too, though she managed to walk gracefully in them, instead of stumbling, like Tonks did. Tonks immediately presumed her to be a veela, although she has never seen one in person before. But who was this veela? And what was she doing at that restaurant?

"Hello, darling," Bill replied, kissing her on the lips. "Did you have trouble finding the place?"

Tonks was completely outraged now. "Is this your idea of a joke, Bill? You ask me out, and then you invite some veela to join us? What the hell is wrong with you?"

Bill looked confused. "Ask you out?" he repeated in surprise. "Tonks, we were coming here as friends! I thought we'd just catch up on old times, and I'd introduce you to Fleur. She's my girlfriend."

Tonks couldn't believe her ears. What she thought was a date was actually a "meet the girlfriend" dinner? She felt a lump in her throat and her head started to spin.

"So zis is Tonks? Zat clumsy girl you told me about?" asked Fleur, in a seemingly sweet and innocent tone of voice. Her French accent, which sounded so nice just moments ago, now grated on Tonks' ears. "You can't be serious, cherie!" she said, addressing herself to Tonks for the first time. "Don't you realize zat Bill needs a real woman, not some clumsy fool with crazy pink 'air?" She gave a derisive laugh.

"Fleur! That's enough!" said Bill sharply, glancing at her. "Tonks," he said pleadingly. "Tonks, I'm really sorry—"

"Clumsy fool, am I?" shouted Tonks, ignoring Bill and not caring at this point about the whole restaurant staring at her. She took a step towards Fleur, wanting to slap her across the face, but tripped and almost fell to the floor. Tears of humiliation started in her eyes. She couldn't picture such a horrible situation in her worst nightmares.

"Sorry, dear!" Fleur taunted, a wide smile on her face. "Go find someone…more like you."

Tonks couldn't stay there anymore; she was about to burst into tears, and wasn't going to give that veela this satisfaction. "Rot in hell," she spat, "both of you." She started to walk away.

"Tonks, wait!" Bill called, taking her arm. "We need to talk…I'm really sorry about this—"

"Don't touch me!" Tonks yelled, jerking away from him and running towards the exit as fast as she could without falling. Not wasting one moment, the Auror took out her wand and Apparated to Grimmauld Place in a matter of seconds.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Nymphadora Tonks pushed open the door of the House of Black, which was thankfully left unlocked, and suddenly realized her stupidity for not Apparating home instead. Now she would have to deal with the entire Weasley clan fussing over her, Sirius' jibes (though she couldn't really blame him; the perpetual lack of entertainment at his parents' old home has become so unbearable for him that anything slightly out of the ordinary was cause for glee), and Kreacher's usual insults. As she walked in, she tripped over the umbrella stand and fell flat on her face, setting off Mrs. Black.

This was too much for the young witch to handle. Swearing loudly, she furiously kicked off her boots and sank to the floor, tears flowing heavily down her face. Tonks knew it would be extremely humiliating if anyone saw her like this, but she couldn't stop sobbing. After about a minute, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Tonks? What's wrong? Are you all right?" A concerned Remus Lupin was kneeling down next to her. Tonks looked at him, trying to wipe her eyes, but tearing up again.

"Remus," she sobbed. "It's terrible! My life is such a disaster!"

"What happened?" Remus asked, wrapping his arms around her. "Are you hurt?"

"N-no…not physically, but—" Tonks couldn't go on.

"Come on," said Remus gently. "Let's go sit down in the living room. Don't worry, nobody else is here."

The Metamorphmagus stood up and followed Lupin. They sat down on the couch, and Remus took a clean handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to the crying girl.

"Th-thanks, Remus," Tonks said softly.

"No problem. Now tell me, what happened to you?"

Tonks plunged into the horrific account of her evening, Lupin listening sympathetically, compassion reflected in his blue-gray eyes. When she finished, Remus embraced her tightly, and rubbed her back as Dora buried her face in his chest.

"Tonks…Merlin, I'm so sorry that happened," he said quietly. "But it'll be okay, I promise. Fleur can't make fun of you forever."

"No, Remus, it's not that. I just—I was hoping that I would finally be worthy of Bill's love…but Fleur's right: who am I to compete with a beautiful, graceful veela?" She sighed heavily.

"It's not a competition, Nymphadora," said Remus. "Bill is in love with Fleur because he loves the person she is, not because she's a veela! And you shouldn't say you're not worthy of Bill; you're an incredible person."

Dora gave a snort of disbelief. "I'm serious," Lupin went on. "Look at you: you're beautiful, funny, intelligent…I, personally, think Bill is crazy for choosing that ice queen over you!" He laughed, and Tonks joined in.

"Thanks, Remus," she said. "Nobody ever told me anything like this."

"It's a pity they didn't," Remus replied. "Maybe that's why you don't know your own worth, Nymphadora."

"Maybe. And _don't_ call me Nymphadora!" She gave Remus a playful smack on the arm, and grinned. As she did, her hair turned bubblegum-pink.

At that moment, Nymphadora Tonks knew she would be all right.


End file.
